I know you guys are probably sick of us constantly lamenting the demise of Black music and the corporate structure's disregard for exploring Black Rock music as an alternative. Here at Afronerd, we have been sounding the trumpet for a Black Alternative Soul label to coincide with a burgeoning African-American (and just African Rock as well....check out D-Fe) Rock scene since this blog's inception. Now MTV appears to have just discovered this phenomenon. But will this amount to exposure? Again, if we can see a Black POTUS, surely we can tolerate a Black person (let Prince and Lenny not be the only ones...) with guitar in his (or her) hands. Here's an excerpt from MTV.com on their "Blacks can Rock" discovery:
"I was in this tiny desert town that was pretty much all white, and the punk scene was very racist," he recalled. "You would go to shows and it was blatantly white power, swastikas, all of that."
But when he moved to New York during high school, Spooner found "a gang of black kids" just like him. For the first time in his life, "I could be who I wanted to be," he said. "[They] made it OK for me, you know?"
The fundamental contradiction of black kids feeling left out of rock — which from its very beginning was based on black music — has played a large role in the creation of Afro-Punk. And while there have been many black artists who have been embraced by white rock fans, from Little Richard to Sly and the Family Stone to the Bad Brains, the Afro-Punk movement has found fans bonding and creating communities, organizing shows and shooting films in a whole new way.
Afro-Punk has gone from the name of a message board to a movement in less than five years — and the scene just keeps growing.
Before the 2000s, Spooner said, "there were no black bands in the mainstream doing anything alternative." Sure, bands like the Bad Brains, Fishbone and Living Colour had set an example for the younger generation — and the Black Rock Coalition was formed during the 1980s — but the success of the mostly black group TV on the Radio has crashed the door open for the movement.
Now, British rockers the Noisettes and singers Santogold and Janelle Monáe are poster children for the movement, even though the artists in the scene sound completely different.
For the remainder of the MTV.com piece, click on the link below:
Afro-Punk Scene, Inspired By Santogold, TV On The Radio And More, Explodes Into A Multi-Genre Movement
And for more discussion on Black folks attempting to debunk music stereotypes, check out this piece from SFWeekly.com pertaining to people of color performing electronica:
Black electronic acts break beats and assumptions
Next up...Busta Rhymes offends the "A-rabs." Doesn't commercial (I'm excluding the classic and progressive rap...you know the music we promote and play on Afronerd radio) offend everyone-especially Black folk?
Fellow blogger, Average Bro delves into this latest controversy on his site, so take a gander:
"Arab Money": Racist Tripe Or Bangin' Track?!?
The issue gets deeper as a few hip hop artists from the Islamic community speak out against Busta Rhymes during a recent NY Hot 97 (colloquially called Shot 97....but's that's a different story) radio broadcast:
Oh and one more interesting tidbit....the U.K. rock/pop artist, Ebony Bones is also a comic book head. Funny how that works out. Perhaps this will be another interview for the future. But check out Ms. Bones' admission for her pulp love in her own words:
MySpace Phenom Ebony Bones Borrows Name From DC Universe
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